At some point I made the mistake of trying to set a hard date on our Month With Ubuntu article; Mr. Murphy wasted no time in using that as proof of his infamous law.

You guys have (rightfully) been asking over the last few months where the article has been, and the answer to that has kept slipping. Just about everything that could go wrong in the 6 month span did go wrong, most of them unrelated to Ubuntu itself. For what I'll leave as simply "external" reasons, Mr. Murphy has continually thwarted my attempts to write a comprehensive Ubuntu article, until now.

The article is just about finished, and the goal right now (however unlikely it may be) is to get it out no later than the 30th, the release date for the next version of Ubuntu, 8.10. This creates a clear problem with timing, so allow me to explain the hows and whys.

The decision has been made to finish the 8.04 article, as that's what I have been using for nearly the last 6 months. Switching to 8.10 would effectively invalidate much of the experiment, and push it back once more. As 8.04 is a long term support release, we feel that it's best to start there, even if the article ends up outdated by the release of Ubuntu 8.10. The short life cycle (and short support cycle) of non-LTS releases means that we're uncomfortable basing too much on a revision of Ubuntu that was never meant to last.

What you'll be getting is a comprehensive review of 8.04, looking at both the structure of the Ubuntu project (support, release schedule, the bundling of software, etc) and the applications and experience of using the OS. If there is a positive side to the delay, it's that the article that we'll be publishing now is different than what we would have published on our initial schedule. 6 months has changed some things; some for the better, others for worse. In retrospect the article we would have given you would not be as refined as it should be, there are some things about Ubuntu that simply don't become evident inside of a single month. So look forward to a long-term review of a long-term release.

In turn this will set the stage for 8.10. Whether we will review every Ubuntu release from here-on out is in the air, but it is unfair to look at only 8.04 when it is no longer the newest version. We will be publishing an addendum dealing with 8.10 some time in November, after we've had a chance to sit down with it and get a good feel for it. And that will allow us to offer a comprehensive look at Ubuntu, both from a long term perspective and a bleeding edge perspective.

Beyond that, this will mark a return to some kind of regular Linux coverage here on AnandTech, so stay tuned to see what else we have cooking.

Oh, and one last thing. While we're on the subject of Linux, today only Codeweavers is giving away free copies of Crossover, their commercial version of WINE. Their servers are already gutted, so this is probably a mean thing to do, but if you're a Linux user (or a Mac user) wanting to check out a well-built WINE distribution, head to their site and grab a free copy of Crossover and/or Crossover Games while you can. We'll be touching on WINE and Crossover in our Ubuntu 8.04 article, as a way to cope with the loss of certain Windows programs.

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15 Comments

Is this article still coming out? What about 9.04 that is available not. I hear its not much better than 8.10 but there are a few new features. I would sure like to see some more linux articles here and Ubuntu is getting stronger every release. Reply

Ryan with the current economy, nothing would surprise me. If you are still with Anand and have not posted the article, shame on you. If you are not employed with Anand, you have my condolences. In that case someone from Anand should either pick up the article or have the courtesy to pronounce Linux coverage at Anand DOA. If you are going to try it again, go with Mint (based on Ubuntu). It offers the best out of the box user experience of any flavor of Linux. Whatever you do, please don't leave us hanging though. Reply

If you're talking about the server edition, LTS is a big selling feature. There's a large difference between 18 months and 54 months (the remaining time in the LTS edition).

However, for desktop use - unless you're a Windows user - upgrading the desktop every couple of years isn't a big deal. Many people will want to do it just to keep up with the new features and new versions of the software. Since the upgrade is quick and painless, and has no direct cost, most people keep their Linux systems current.

By comparison, installing a new version of Windows often involves much gnashing of teeth and spending of cash. And you usually have to investigate whether your software and hardware will continue to work with it before even trying the upgrade.

Even in a corporate environment, upgrading to a new version of Linux is generally less painful than installing the latest Windows service pack. Reply

I would also love to see you guys follow through with your Vista sp1 vs xp sp3. A couple comparative screen shots showing the difference between dx9 and 10 would be great to include, for users to decide weather the performance hit with dx10 is worth it.
can't wait,
Bill.
Reply

could you show us how to configure squid and tproxy on ubuntu 8.04 so i could setup a squid box out of it with real transparent proxy in order to get the client ip address be forwarded using their own ip address to the mikrotik router?

i've been using ubuntu 8.04.1 this last 3 weeks and i found it good alternative choice of operating system. the drawback is i could not setup dazuko module in order to get the avg antivirus real time monitoring working. Reply